Labels and/or business form label combinations are generally well known in the business form and label industry. Labels and/or business forms containing one or more labels are typically formed by die cutting so as to enable the easy removal or peeling of the label from a release liner or carrier ply. The pressure sensitive adhesive is usually applied to the carrier ply or release liner and then transfers to the backside of the label on removal of the label from the ply or liner. That is, the adhesive has a greater pull for the face of the label than the carrier ply and the adhesive adheres to the label ply or face ply during separation or peeling. Phrased another way, the label or face sheet has a greater affinity for the adhesive than does the carrier or release ply and as such, the adhesive will adhere or bond more aggressively to the backside of the label or face stock, than to the carrier ply which has a release coating (silicone). An exemplary construction is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,559 and is commonly used in the industry.
While such prior art labels lend themselves to a large number of uses and applications, the labeling of products which have a surface that may have contaminants (oils, grease, dirt, dust, debris, etc.) as well as discontinuous surfaces (pitted, peak & valleys, grooved, patterned, etc.) are often difficult to initially adhere a label to, as well as to retain the label in its position. It has been found that in labeling such a surface, the label will often separate or peel away from the surface due to the contaminants or discontinuous surface conditions. In addition, the contaminants will likely also be picked up by the label thereby reducing the adhesive strength by blocking or concealing the adhesive that holds the label to the surface making retaining the label in position difficult and reapplication virtually impossible. Moreover, where such labels are weakened by such contaminants or do not have sufficient adherence to the surface, the labels can be knocked off by contact, (inadvertent or otherwise) such as during handling or transport. When the foregoing occurs, the identification or product description provided by the label is lost requiring the retailer to possibly discount the goods due to the loss of the identification or alternatively, the retailer may require the manufacturer to re-label or take back the goods likely leading to unnecessary expense and lost time and effort.
Traditional prior art labels also have a tendency to degrade or lose their tackiness over time or they may fall off due to inclement weather, extreme temperature deviations, exposure to chemicals and cleaning components and the like. In the business forms and labels industry the issue of premature lifting or tackiness breakdown of a label typically occurs, in that over an extended period of time current prior art/constructions tend to “lift” or “curl up” on the edges, sometimes referred and/or deemed as “premature lift” and/or “edge lift”. This premature lift is potentially due to the limited thickness of the applied adhesive which generally are less than about 1 mil. The thickness of the prior art labels or coating height as such is typically limited by manufacturing and coating technologies available in the market today.
A further attempt to rectify the foregoing situation of labels detaching from the surface, manufacturers and retailers have sought to physically affix labels and tags directly to such substrates such as through the use of mechanical fasteners like staples, rivets, screws, etc. However, mechanical fasteners, once removed, typically leave holes or other marks in the product from which they are removed creating an aesthetically displeasing product presentation.
Other attempts have lead to bonding or welding tags or plates to the “hard to label” surface. In addition to being expensive and potentially slowing down the distribution of the products by having to apply such welds or bonds, the welds or bonds may also distort or leave deformities in the surface of the article which again takes away from the overall value and presentation of the product.
A still further prior art solution was to increase the amount of thickness of the single adhesive on the substrate. However, as labels are typically provided in a continuous format (fan folded, roll, etc.) the pressure from the stack would cause adhesive to leak out or ooze causing the labels to adhere to one another in the stack making separation of individual labels from the stack difficult or messy.
What is needed therefore is an easy to use label structure that overcomes the foregoing drawbacks and which can lend itself to difficult or extreme labeling applications.